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Positive Grid - BIAS FX

Hallo guitar nation. Today I am presenting BIAS FX, new app developed by Positive Grid. They simply never stop with innovations and writing better and better program code for guitarists and bass players using iOS and desktop Mac & Windows platforms. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard they are preparing BIAS FX. I thought to myself: “Wow, can it get any better than BIAS or JamUp XT”? It sure can.

JamUp XT is great app that is featuring bunch of stomp boxes to boost your virtual amp sound. With BIAS you can dig deeper into amp tweaking and export it to JamUp XT. With BIAS FX you can pretty much do everything in one app now. There is also an option to integrate the App with BIAS Amp.

Let’s get started from the beginning. Right after I downloaded BIAS FX on my iPad, the very first thing I’ve noticed right away is brand new GUI. In the upper portion of the screen estate, there is an FX and amp chain. Like in the “real world”, guitarist always place their drive stomp boxes in front of an amp most of the time, such as overdrive, boost, distortion etc. Modulation and time based FX sound great in FX loop chain, or on the diagram after the amp head. It is possible to move all effects to either side of the amp. If you place an EQ for example, before your amp, it definitely sculptures your tone in a different way than after the amp (post EQ). It really makes difference where do you put your effects, like in “the real world”.

Editing and tweaking is very intuitive with taps and drag-n’-drop operation. There are total of 25 stomp boxes, 12 amps and 5 rack effect units.

Racks:

Amps:

Acoustic simulator

’59 Tweed Lux

’67 BlackFace

British Rock 50

’92 Treadplate

GK 800

’77 Silver Tone

’66 AC Boost

‘69 Duo Verb

’69 Plexiglas

’04 Insane 5153

’69 Blue Line

I am happy to announce that BIAS FX features Dual signal path.This was on a wish-list of many users, including myself :-) That practically means you can use two different stacks to create a stereo image with two different sounds. This is achieved by using virtual Splitter box with one input and routing it to 2 virtual outputs/amps. After your signal reaches desired amp heads, there is a mixer on the other side of the chain, where you can set volumes, pans and delay in milliseconds. There is also an option to insert additional effects after the mixer, before the final output. Sweet.

After you create your desired tone, you have an option to define what your “final destination” is: Amp Front, Combo Poweramp, Stack Poweramp and Direct Out respectively. This is very useful option, because every input source has different sound properties. By using these options you can optimize your sound for any circumstances. You can also switch on and off certain amp circuit components and a cab simulation. For example, if you are using your iOS device in front of an amp, you can disengage the cab simulation option. When going direct with DI Box on the stage, you want the Cab option on. You can experiment with shutting on/off Pre Amp, Tone Stack and Power Amp, and obtain the best possible tone for your individual setup and different destinations.

Output options can be accessed in Global Settings. You also have an option to tweak basic tone controls Bass, Middle, High, and Resonate.

BIAS FX is also Cloud-based tone share platform. You can share and backup your own tones, or download tons of patches from your on-line guitar peers. Once you create a preset, they are synched with all your mobile and desktop devices. BIAS FX also features MIDI learn controllers to any switch or knob in the app, as well as Inter-App Audio compatibility – you can insert other audio apps’ effect in BIAS FX. In upper right corner there is very nice chain view/pedalboard toggle switch, and Inter-App audio switch.

Playing live? No problem – you can use Live View, where you can have 4 presets available on-screen, bank up/down buttons, and 4 switches to toggle different effects.

In addition to standard Input pot, BIAS FX features left and right Output control. This is very handy feature when you have Dual Signal path – you can achieve a perfect volume balance for both channels, before your signal hits your DAW or two different amps.

AUDIO TEST

I have recorded a short audio example. I was using iRig HD via Lightning port, and stereo output from iPad to my Audio Interface and Pro Tools 11. I used Dual Signal Path with two different amps: ’04 Insane 5150 and ’92 Treadplate. I panned the amps 33 left and 34 right, with 0.4 ms delay on the lower amp to achieve a wider stereo sound.

The tone I got from this iOS app is pretty darn impressive. It is truly analog-sound like quality.

In the audio example you will hear first one guitar, then the second one, and then both of them panned L-R in Pro Tools. I played a bit of Metal and a short solo with a crisp 5150/Dual Rectifier emulations and some delay. I got this tone in less than 5 minutes –I can imagine what would happen if I actually sit down, invest some time and tweak the heck out of it.

Conclusion

BIAS FX is all-in-one tool for your practice and recording needs. With Dual-Signal Path it is now possible to have 2 separate outputs and two separate amps in your signal, PLUS all brand new stomp boxes and rack effects. Great analogue sound and very friendly for gigging musician as well. Absolutely worth having on your iOS device, and as a plug-in in your favorite DAW.

Full integration with BIAS Amp adds unprecedented control over designing your own fully customized dream amps and lets you clone the sound of live-miked and pre-recorded amps

Dual signal path and dual-amp processing

Splitter switches between and combines dual signal paths, adjusting the level and frequency range for each path to give you greater tone-shaping possibilities

Included tuner and metronome

Live View mode lets you recall any preset with a single tap or click and toggle on/off any single footpedal or category of footpedals (such as all delay pedals) with one tap

Pedalboard View shows all the effects and amps in the currently loaded preset at once, for quick access to all their controls; it also gives your ToneCloud buddies a Pinterest-like snapshot of the preset you’ve uploaded to share with them

Presets are synced across all your desktop and mobile devices for instant access anywhere, anytime

Global Settings optimizes BIAS FX’s output to sound the best in any environment including sending to a mixer, amp head or combo or stack power amp by letting you EQ and selectively deactivate the app’s preamp, tonestack, power amp and cab separately for each destination

MIDI Learn assigns continuous controllers to any switch or knob in BIAS FX

Inter-App Audio compatibility lets you insert other audio apps’ effects in any place in your BIAS FX signal paths

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